Longhorns softball coach Connie Clark not naming a starting pitcher before Game 2 of Texas’ Super Regional vs. Florida State

With Lacey Waldrop having allowed runs in each of the previous two innings, Florida State head softball coach Lonni Alameda pulled her and put Monica Perry on the mound to start the sixth.

In its Super Regional opener, Texas broke a 2-2 tie against Perry with an RBI double to left-center field by Karina Scott, who drove in the Longhorns’ first run of the game with an infield single. Perry took the loss and, on top of being one win away from clinching the team’s first Women’s College World Series berth since 2006, Texas head coach Connie Clark was pleased with being able to see both of Florida State’s pitchers in their first meeting of the season.

“It was good to get looks at both of their pitchers tonight,” Clark said. “We had [Kim Bruins] ready to go and we didn’t want to tip that card if we didn’t have to and [Blaire] Luna got out of some big jams. That’s important. We’ve seen both of them. Now it’s live, not on video so we can make quicker adjustments now.”

Bruins, a senior, is 10-0 with a 1.57 ERA this year as the Longhorns No. 2 pitcher behind Luna, the senior All-American, who is 29-5 with a 1.19 ERA this season. Luna was not at her best Saturday night, striking out 10 but walking five batters — the first two of which scored — in Texas’ 3-2 victory over the Seminoles. But she struck out two with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth, coming through when she needed to.

Still, when asked who would start Game 2 of the Super Regional series against Florida State, Clark said she had not decided on who would begin the game in the circle for the Longhorns Sunday afternoon. Bruins last pitched in Texas’ Regional opener against Army last week, tossing four scoreless innings in the 5-0 victory.

Luna has started every game for Texas this postseason, earning the win in all four of them. The Longhorns face Florida State with a chance to earn a spot in the WCWS on Sunday at 2 p.m. Game 3, if necessary, would start at 5 p.m.

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